Highlights from Tommy Bowden Press Conference

"I think the most impressive thing about Maryland is that their
defensive coordinator does a really good job with their scheme. He
seems to have a scheme for every game. He really has a nice wrinkle
for every game. He's a sharp guy."

On facing Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen:

"The last two years he's certainly had our number. I think Clemson
beat Maryland for eight straight years, and then we've lost the last
two. It seems like we're productive offensively against them. He's
a good motivator and has obviously done a good job with the team.
His success as an assistant came offensively. He's always got a
really good plan. He has success against other teams as well, we're
not the only team."

On learning from Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia versus Maryland: "Rich (former offensive coordinator) runs some similar formations to
us. There's not too much we can take from that game though. Their
(West Virginia) quarterback is struggling, ours is not. I think our
point of attack will be a little bit different. Maryland had some
success last year pressuring Charlie Whitehurst. But again, that was
the first game where he faced some really fast bullets. I don't
think it'll be too much of the same attack (as West Virginia). But
you'll see some of it, because we do have similar formations. I have
talked with Rich just once since their game. You learn a lot more
from watching film."

On preparations during the bye week:

"I think it was really good for us. We did a whole lot of hitting,
probably more than we've done in past years. We did some live
scrimmaging. We did live short-yardage, live goal-line yesterday and
the team responded well. We had a pretty hard practice yesterday in
full pads.
In years past, Maryland has been the hungrier team than us. Now the
role is reversed, they've got the bullseye on them and I'm anxious to
see how we respond. We feel pretty good about where we are. A lot
of that has to do with seniors keeping the team focused."

On the state of college football:

"I think you have to bring your "A" game every given Saturday. Had
Southern Cal brought their 'A' game, they probably would've beaten
California. Had Kansas State brought their 'A' game, they probably
would've beaten Marshall. Then Marshall didn't have their "A" game
for Troy State. That's the hard part. You have to be ready every
Saturday. If you look at the state of college football, very few
people are doing it every week."

On Clemson's potential:

"Very few people have their 'A' game the very first game of the year.
What you do is like to show signs of improvement over the course of
the season. I think there were signs last year, but all of a sudden
we threw a freshman quarterback in there. This year, we've been
healthy. The players have gotten a little bit better. It was a
really solid performance against Georgia Tech. If we could bring
that performance every Saturday, then we'd be a contender in the
conference without a doubt. But you could say the same thing for
just about every team in this conference."

Overconfident? "I don't think so. We are not even thinking about Georgia Tech anymore. We got to think about Maryland. We haven't beat them two years in a row. So we can't be too confident. We have something to prove and we have to go up there with the objective to win. And that's all we can think about right now."